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A Reply To The Tyranny of the Legislative Majority

Walker and the Republicans have done the bidding of the majority of Wisconsin residents.
Perhaps if the Democrats were present, they would be relevent.

Millions of people who were not acting like children, but working and taking care of their responsibilities are very pleased right now. You may not like it, but it is time you accept it.A Reply:

57% of Wisconsin residents do not approve of Governor Walker. 66% support Collective Bargaining rights for public sector unionized employees.

These figures have been expressed in all the polls all across the political spectrum. Your assertion is utterly false.

I am not acting as a child. I am defending my rights as a citizen and supporting the rule of law.

The Wisconsin Open Meetings Law requires 24 hours notice not just to the 14 Senators who are in Illinois but the free press in the state and nation, lobbyists who may have an interest in any given piece of legislation, and to any interested citizens at large.

That includes both you and I Holly. Or are your rights superior to mine?

It is time that I accept that Governor Walker and the Republican majority in the legislature can do anything they wish without regard to me. I do accept it. It has been amply demonstrated several times in a bare two months, and there is clearly no limit to the violation of my human rights that may ensue.

But as a defender of liberty and equality of opportunity as stated in the Declaration of Independence, I decry the behavior and institution of a tyranny over me. I oppose open violations of the law in defiance of the rule of law.

I actually will accept this latest piece of legislation. But I want it done according to the Wisconsin State Constitution and our State Statutes. Without that all of our laws and their proper enforcement and the protections we enjoy, or shall I say I enjoy and you fail to even grasp, are in grave danger.

For you, our democratic political process is all about a tyranny of the legislative majority. I make this distinction with emphasis since the Republican legislators and our Governor are rapidly losing the support of the majority of the citizens of this state. For some Republicans, politics is all about rubbing your perceived opposition’s noses in all sorts of infamy and telling them they must like it. This is shameful.

When the bill passed Wednesday in the dead of night, with the doors of the Capitol Building closed while State business was being conducted that vitally affected the interests of all the people of Wisconsin, I was locked out and not permitted to even know of what was being done in my name. I utterly reject the actions of the legislature and the Governor in signing such an execrable measure.

“That which is not just is not law.”

The Walkers and those who stand with him have the unwavering support of the unquestioning admirers of strong-arm government that shackles the people. By the reckoning of numerous polls, that figure is at about 34% of adult Wisconsinites. That is not a majority. The rest actively oppose them now or are showing rising concern.

I value democracy and the consent of the governed. I value the Bill of Rights, the rule of law, and the social compact between the citizen and the government and leaders that represent him.

If this is acting like a child then I proudly join the children who brought the United States and the states of this Union into being in 1776, those that preserved it in 1861-1865, and those who since have fought for it in other wars, and peacefully sought redress for grievances, peacefully assembled, exercised free speech, fought for, and obtained basic human justice.

Holly, I find that you simply do not understand that the issue has always been far larger than Democrats or Republicans, payback for some perceived partisan slight, resentment at others who may have more than you do but actually are not all that far ahead of you if at all, real respect for the democratic process that makes our system of government possible and so much more.

I am saddened that you feel the way you do. A careful reading of the recent posts on this blog will reveal that there are fundamental issues of human rights at stake. They now even go beyond those of workers in the workplace to the very rights that underpin the continued existence of democratic government in Wisconsin.

What say you all to that? How do you counter this childlike display that my coadjutor saddles me with?

Those of you who support Governor Walker are going to have to do much better than that, or you will have to openly admit to your disdain for democratic government and God-given human rights that I hold as irrevocably sacred.

I now yield the floor to my loyal readers and permit them to destroy the propositions I have advanced with all the vigor at my command. You be the judge and so too have your say in the matter.

Dr. Thomas Martin Sobottke
Citizen of the State of Wisconsin, United States of America, and advocate for human rights that gives life meaning and does justice in our world.

2 thoughts on “A Reply To The Tyranny of the Legislative Majority”

Dr. Sobottke:
In reading your post this evening, I was quite surprised to see that we actually feel the same way, just regarding different issues. I could have written what you posted.
If you simply change “Walker” to “Obama”, “Republicans” to “Democrats” and replace the subject of the budget repair bill with the health care bill, I find that we share the same fervor, just from different perspectives.